Home Cooked Goodness, Food Photography

Food for the Soul

Cooked with love? …. in a large electrical pot. Lol. A little morning prep work, place everything into the cooker, clean up & set a timer. Go to work, run errands, play with the kids, your fur babies, exercise, go brunching or whatever your heart desires. Low & slow eight hours later, an amazing delicious meal that may look fancy but didn’t require much of your time. That’s what I call a wonderful dinner!

I have cooked this meal over the years with different ingredients, chuck vs rump, red wine vs no wine, worcestershire & Dr. Pepper soda at one point. My suggestion is try what you like …it’s all about your taste preference : )

Note: I make a bowl of mashed potatoes as well. My Mom used to include mashed potatoes with this meal and my Dad is the one who taught me how to make mashed potatoes.

Sunday dinner — Tiffani Thiessen’s Pull Up A Chair cookbook was a Christmas gift and apparently so was the ’tis the season cold I had last week. Huge ugh! Still slightly lingering around, Tiffani’s chicken and dumplings recipe sounded perfect. The chicken is succulent, quantity of flavors and a touch of dry sherry. Apparently recipes including alcohol is a recurring theme for me throughout 2018 and the New Year, Lol.

For the stew: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add half of the chicken and cook until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken. Set aside.

Add the butter to the same pot and melt over medium-high heat. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, fennel and parsnip and cook until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and when it releases its fragrance, stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sherry and stir, scraping up any bits stuck to the pot. Add the broth and stir to combine.

Tie the thyme, parsley and bay leaves together with kitchen twine, drop the bundle into the broth and add the chicken, taking care to fully immerse it in the liquid. Bring the stew to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked, about 1 hour.

Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Remove the bundle of herbs and discard. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones and discard. Tear the meat into bite-size pieces. Using a skimmer or wide spoon, skim the fat from the surface of the sauce in the pot. Return the chicken and any drippings to the pot and bring the stew to a simmer.

For the dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and pepper. Add the buttermilk, butter, thyme, parsley and dill and stir to form a thick, very sticky dough.

Using your hands, roll the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball. Drop the dough balls into the stew spaced about 1/4 inch apart. Cover and simmer over low heat until the dumplings are firm and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Inspired by Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Spicy Sicilian Chicken Soup. A warm bowl of deliciousness! I printed a copy cat recipe, doubt it will be “exactly” like theirs. Similar ingredients along with some cooking confidence, it tastes amazing.

Whether you’re a chicken noodle kind of lover, creamy or vegetable soup lover…there’s just something about soup that’s good for your soul.

Cook on low for 6 hours, remove chicken breasts and shred, place back in the soup. Add potatoes and pasta, allow to cook/simmer additional hour. Note: I peeled & boiled potatoes, cooled down and slightly mashed for pieces.

This is my Grandmom’s recipe — I can hear her southern accent calling it “slaw”. Her laugh was contagious, stories were funny and her slaw was a tradition passed down.

I love a side of good coleslaw with seafood, ham, burgers, ribs (anything barbecue) and Thanksgiving dinner. For our family, Grandmom’s slaw became a holiday tradition! I sat with my Mom and Grandmom shredding an enormous amount of cabbage & carrots the day before Thanksgiving….for years.

Grandmom always added raisins. My older sister disliked having raisins combined so we made a separate bowl without too. It wasn’t until years later, I realized everyone’s idea of dressing does not include mayonnaise.

I find myself shredding a small portion throughout the year for home made happiness on the side. Serves 4-6 people, depending on portion. This recipe is definitely creamy with a slight crunch.

#southernslaw #tradition #sidesalad 🥕

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage head, shredded

1 1/2 to 2 fresh carrots, shredded

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 ounce small box of raisins, optional

Directions:

Remove outer layers of cabbage. Cut into 4 pieces. Shred cabbage (watch your fingers), place into medium/large mixing bowl. Rinse and peel carrots, shred and combine with cabbage. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise & vinegar stir and then add sugar. Mix well. Pour dressing over the cabbage and carrots, stir together. Allow to refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Cheese…yes please! Smoked gouda might just be my new favorite. A creamy texture and hickory flavor that melts beautifully.

I’ve made the same 5 cheese macaroni n’ cheese recipe for years…thanks to Patti LaBelle. It is delicious however, it’s time to switch it up.

A tad reluctant while whisking the flour & butter. It crossed my mind, what if we don’t like it? My motto is, try it! If you don’t like it, spit it out into a napkin but at least you can say you tried it. Something I taught my son while growing up.

The View from Great Island originated the recipe however, I modified this macaroni & cheese recipe to my taste.

I will definitely make this again! The smoked gouda gave a hint of flavor different to cheddar and it was amazing. We all went back for seconds… it’s all Gouda 😀😋

#sundaydinner #itsallgouda #cheeseplease

Ingredients:

– 3 cups cooked macaroni, follow instructions on box

– 2 TBSP all purpose flour

– 1 TSP salt and pepper

– 4 TBSP unsalted butter

– 2 cups smoked Gouda, shredded

– 2 to 2 1/2 cups of milk

– 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350. Melt 2 tbsp butter in saucepan over medium low heat. Add the flour, whisk together; stir constantly. Add the milk and whisk to combine over heat and simmer. Over low heat or remove saucepan from stove top, begin adding the shredded Gouda. Handful or so at a time, stir until melted and repeat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

A history of leftover meat & potato meal made into this savory dish. My former, very Irish Mother-in-law taught me her recipe when I was 22 years old. Since that was ‘way back’, I’ve tweaked; added my own seasoning and vegetables …including beer.

I zhuzh’ed it up for everything green day! Normally cooked in a plain casserole dish. My son, Tyler always gets a second serving …and enjoyed every bite of this meat and potato bowl.

This chicken casserole is a recipe passed down by my Grandmom. Chicken Elegant — it’s not really an “elegant” dish however, it disappears quickly at gatherings and is still one of my son’s favorites.

It’s a simple casserole. I’ve made this several times over 20+ years including for work parties. One particular holiday party, Nurses and other colleagues were saying how delicious it is. A few colleagues skipped the dish thinking it was “just” stuffing…. Wrong! The few jumped up to try a spoonful however, the casserole was gone. Lol! I made it again the following week specifically for the few who missed out : )

Recipe below. Great for any season! #bonappetit

4 chicken breasts

1 box Stove Top Stuffing

1 stick of butter

8 oz. sour cream

1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup

Salt to taste

1 can chicken broth

Recipe:

Place chicken in crock pot or slow cooker; pour chicken broth over chicken and cook for 3-4 hours on low (chicken should fall apart when cooked thoroughly). Shred or chop chicken to your liking, place in 13×9 dish. Mix; stir cream of chicken soup and sour cream together in a bowl; combine with chicken in casserole dish; mix it all up. Pour uncooked stuffing into a separate bowl, melt 1/2 stick of butter in saucepan and pour butter over stuffing; mix together. Spoon stuffing evenly on top of chicken (as a crust). If stuffing appears dry, I melt a little more butter to pour over top. Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes. Note: Check stuffing crust top after 15-20 minutes; cover with foil if browning quickly & continue to bake. Allow to cool and serve with side of vegtables or salad. Enjoy!